Our initial goal is 150 Households but we can get 2 solar panels if we sign up 300 households. If we meet the inital goal we will reset the goal and keep going...
Goal: 150
Current: 10
Sustainable Arlington - a Vision 2020 Committee
Sustainable Arlington is a town committee dedicated to acting on a local
level to achieve climate stabilization and other important
environmental goals. This Web site will detail Sustainable Arlington's activities and provide information on how people can be lower their "carbon footprint."
Events :
Sustainable Arlington holds monthly meetings and we invite you to attend. Please visit our events calendar to find out when the next meeting is and where it will be held.
Arlington team co-captain Laurel Kayne takes the team torch at the Energy Smackdown launch event at the McGlynn Middle School in Medford on May 4. For a report on the kick-off event, see this article from the Arlington Advocate.
Dick Rubinstein and Eric Kurtz, wearing CFL hats that they
designed and created. They were handing out free CFLs to Town Day
attendees who were willing to take the lightbulb pledge - that is to
replace an incandescent bulb with a CFL.
Town Meeting passes article adopting the Arlington Sustainability Action Plan (ASAP) in Monday, May 21st session.
75% of the greenhouse gasses consumed in Arlington come from
residential uses. The ASAP is enabling legislation that provides
direction to the town to not only persue efforts to reduce emmisions
related to the town's own buildings but also to coordinate efforts to
help residents reduce their carbon footprint through providing
information about things like subsidies that are available. The
article doesn't commit the town to any specific spending but does
empower the town to persue all available strategies that can be done
within the current budget priorities. As with the replacement of
street lighting there are many things that can be done that will save
the town money. Any items that require new spending still need to be
proposed and accepted by Town Meeting.
The Energy Smackdown began as a competition between 3 households in
Medford. Now in Season 2, the Smackdown expands to Arlington,
Cambridge, and Medford. Teams of ten households from each town will
compete to see which community can make the biggest energy reduction
over twelve months.
With support from local foundations, businesses, non-profits, and
governments, the adventures of two households from each town will be
documented for broadcast on local access cable television and posted
on Web casts on the Internet.
For more information and to sign up, visit www.energysmackdown.com .
You can also contact 781-396-6208 or
for more
information, or to request an application. And spread the news!
150 Households 2008
HELP ARLINGTON EARN A 2KW SOLAR/PHOTOVOLTAIC INSTALLATION!
The 150 Households Bonus plan has been renewed for 2008!
Customers who sign up for the New England Wind Fund purchase
renewable wind energy certificates (RECs), in effect choosing to power their home with clean electricity and to support renewable energy products.
In addition, Arlington is eligible for the 150 Households Bonus Plan. The Town earns a 2kW solar/photovoltaic installation when 150 new households sign up by April 30, 2008.
[The deadline has been extended through the end of May...You can still join!]
Household Energy Hogs Revealed
You know the home electronics and appliances in your house eat up the electricity you pay for each month, but you might not have a sense of which ones have the biggest appetites.
Watt Are They Using?
The first step is to learn how many watts your electronics and appliances consume. You can usually [...]
As you may know, we have a very knowledgeable team guide, Dave Conna, whom I’ve been peppering with questions. Here is our recent exchange about storm windows…
————
May 26, 2008
Hi Dave,
We are replacing our storm windows and were going to go with Harvey,
based on our research. Do you know a brand that is more energy
efficient?
My experience [...]
OK, caveats first.
1. I’m not a scientist or an engineer. Or a plumber or an electrician.
2. I’ve just started learning about solar hot water systems and I’m NO expert.
3. I could go on with caveats all day, but you get the point…
My goal with this blog is really to educate myself. I would also *love* [...]
Here are some pretty funny photos of our kick-off rally on May 5th. We all had a great time! Imagine a group of adults (mostly), singing our team cheer:
Rising ocean!
Sinking bears!
Arlington’s the town that cares!
AIM LOW!
Go team go!!
The Town of Arlington--Showing Leadership
Members of Sustainable Arlington have spearheaded a number of "green" activities taken by the Town. These include:
Fuel Efficient Vehicle Purchasing
In
April 2002, Sustainable Arlington's vehicle purchasing proposal passed
Town Meeting requiring the purchases of fuel efficient motor vehicles
for the town (‘the most fuel efficient vehicle that meets the municipal
function”).
•Green Building Bylaw
–In
2003, Town Meeting adopted Sustainable Arlington’s proposal
establishing the goal of LEED silver certification (an accepted
standard for "green buildings") for new and substantial renovations of
town-owned buildings.
•
Numerous building energy efficiency improvements
–High-efficiency boiler for the new Peirce school
–Robbins Library lighting retrofit
–Streetlight, traffic signal and walk signal upgrades (50-80% savings)
–School lighting retrofits (completed this past year)
–Combined, these projects are saving the Town ~$200,000/year and >1,000 tons per year of CO2emissions.
–All projects have been highly cost-effective, in part due to utility rebates
•
Grants for enforcing no idling laws
Selectmen support Sustainability Action Plan
By Jennifer Mann/ Staff Writer Arlington Advocate
Thursday, November 9, 2006
The Board of Selectmen last week unanimously endorsed a plan to make Arlington
more "green" by reducing its carbon dioxide emissions by 2010.
Check out the EcoQuiz, created by Vision 2020 Environmental Task Force, Sustainable Arlington.
Strive to be "Carbon Neutral" - that is lower the amount of greenhouse gases you contribute to the planet. Click here find resources on purchasing carbon offsets and renewable energy certificates.
Hull Group
Arlington citizens & officials visited the Hull Wind Turbine on March 6, 2005, to celebrate its 5 millionth kilowatt-hour of electric generation. The turbine has paid for itself ahead of schedule in 3 years, and now generates income for the Town of Hull. A documentary of this visit is currently showing on Arlington community access cable TV. In early January 2006, Hull received delivery of its second wind turbine, and passed its 6 millionth kilowatt hour mark.
Ten Things 
